AFTER THE SOUND

What life is like for an ER nurse

By Cealia Athanason

Step into an emergency room, and you’ll see doctors and nurses facing that reality each day, where it’s all about fighting for the lives of patients.

And for Travis Kitchen, it’s no different.

This 36 year old is the clinical coordinator West Marion Community Hospital’s emergency department. He works the day shift five days a week, averaging about 48 hours a week. Because of patient privacy laws, neither his wife nor kids can know the details of each shift or what he goes through on a regular basis, so he copes through